Electroplating machine



June 4, 1929.

W. F. HALL ELECTROPLATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a 13am v June 4, 1929. I w, F, HA L 1,715,357

ELECTROPLATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 c INVENTOR WITN 5S WESLEY f. HALL Patented June 4, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WESLEY F. HALL, OF MATAWAN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS. TO HANSON-VAN WINKLE-MUNNING COMPANY, OF MATAWAN, NEW JERSEY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTBOPLATING MACHINE.

Application filed August 19,1926. Serial No. 130,198.

' This invention relates to electroplating machines in which articles are mechanically transferred through the electroplating tanks.

The invention has for its object, the more equable distribution of the electro-deposit upon the articles being plated. The invention consists of a combination with the cathode carrier, of means mounted thereon for continuously turning the articles being plated as they are carried through the bath and also as they are carried through the rinsing tank. More specifically, the invention comprises the combination with the cathode carrier, of rotatable cathode supports mounted substantially vertically on said carrier, said rotatable supports having propelling wheels adapted to ride on the cathode or other rails so that as the carrier is moved along, the friction between the rails and the supporting wheels will result in the slow turning of the cathode in the bath.

In electroplating certain kinds of articles, as for example, tubular bumpers for automobiles, they are carried longitudinally through the electroplating bath in a vertical position and the electric current flowing from anodes on either side, tends to make a heavier deposit on the nearer sides of the tubes. by means of the present invention, the tubes are slowly rotated as they pass through the bath so as to cause the deposit to be uniform throughout. Such rotary motion further decreases the liability to form pinholes.

The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section through an electroplating tank.

Figure 2 is a side view of the cathode carrier.

Figure 3 is a side view, half in section, of the lower end of the rotatable cathode support.

Figure 4 is a transverse section on line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an axial section of the upper end of the cathode support as it is supported in the rinsing tank.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents any suitable electroplating tank in which are mounted anodes 2. Cathode conducting rails 3 extend the length of the tank and are suitably supported at the ends thereof. Travelling cathode carriers 4 are made in the form of a yoke and are hung over the cathode rails as shown. These cathode carriers have depending arms 5, one on each side. Mounted on each side of the cathode carrier are shafts (l journalled above at 7 and below at 8 on suitable journals attached to the travelling carrier. These rotatable shafts 6 are preferably placed at a slight inclination to the vertical and they have at their upper ends, carrier wheels 9 attached to them, which wheels are adapted to have their lower faces rest on the cathode rails 3 so that as the carrier 4 is moved along, the wheels will rotate and cause the rotation of the shafts 6. It will be understood that the wheels thus support the weight of the carrier and the cathode articles carried thereby so that they perform the double func tion of a roller bearing and a cathode rotating means. At the lower ends of the shafts are secured sockets 10 for holding the cathode hangers. These sockets 10 are formed of four finger-like corner extensions 11 (see Figures 3 and 4) which at their lower ends have inwardly projecting hook portions 12. The cathode hanger 13 has an enlarged knob 14 at its upper end which is small enough to pass through the apertures between the vertical parts 11 of the cathode support and yet is too large to pass between the lower fingers 12. To remove the cathode hanger from the cathode support, it is only necessary therefore to lift it slightly and slide it sidewise. The cathode hanger 13 may extend down through tubular articles 15, which are to be plated, and have hooks 16 at the lower end for supporting said tubes. It will be understood that the cathode carriers 4 are propelled along the rails 3 by the usual sprocket chains that are provided for this purpose. Such carriers'are adapted to be lifted bodily with their cathode articles out of the tank by suitable mechanism provided for that purpose and lowered again into cleaning or rinsing tanks. When in the rinsing tank, it is still desirable to have the articles rotated and at even a greater speed to insure their proper cleansing. For this purpose, I provide rails 17 (see Figs. 2 and 5) which are not to be used as conductors, how ever, but merely as supporting rails and I place them near to the center of the wheels 9 in order to give a greater rotational speed. The lower surfaces of the wheels 9 are made conical in such a way as to givehorizontal con tact with their supporting rails.

Both the wheels 9 and the hangersupp'orts 10 have upwardly projecting flanges 18'and 19 that form a cup into whichany oil from the bearings 7 and 8 may 'bedischarged and caught withoutdanger of dropping into the bath.

1. In an electroplating machine,-a cathode carrier having rotatable shafts journalled thereon on substantially vertical axes, Wheels on said shaft adapted to ride on rails, and a flange on the upper side of said wheels to catch oil drip from the journals.

2. In anelectroplating machine, a cathode carrier having rotatable shafts mounted substantially vertically thereon, wheels on said shafts having two contact peripheries, rails their outer peripheries so as to give a slower speed of rotation and on their inner peripheries to give a higher speed of rotat1on.

WESLEY F. HALL.- 

